Daily Archives: September 1, 2020

Traditional Design Selected for the Future Goleta Train Depot

The Goleta City Council unanimously selected the “Traditional Theme” train depot building design over the “Sunrise” and “Schooner” at a Special City Council meeting held in August. The “Traditional” design takes inspiration from Goleta’s agricultural history as well as the historic nature of many of the historical train depots found throughout California, including Goleta’s historic depot that now serves as the home of the South Coast Railroad Museum.

Mayor Paula Perotte said, “This sets an important milestone for what will be a Goleta landmark project when completed. With the Council’s selection of the “Traditional Theme,” the design team can focus its efforts on one building design and really delve deeper into more of the details that will comprise the depot building and enhance the train station area.”

Vyto Adomaitis, Department of Neighborhood Services & Public Safety Director, added “Staff are very pleased with the progress being made on this important project through a collaborative public outreach effort and coordinated project team approach and look forward to returning to the City Council in October to review the proposed public improvements for La Patera Lane that will greatly enhance pedestrian, bicyclist and vehicular safety for our community.”

The Goleta Train Depot will be a full-service multi-modal train station next to the existing Amtrak platform on South La Patera Lane. By creating a full-service station, the City hopes to increase train ridership, improve connections to bus transit, accommodate transit service to/from the Santa Barbara Airport and UCSB, and add new bicycle and pedestrian facilities. This project will also allow accommodation for future additional train storage, supporting increased commuter rail needs. Learn more about the Goleta Train Depot project at https://tinyurl.com/GoletaTrainDepot.

Prior to the Special City Council Meeting, the City conducted extensive outreach to find out what the community wanted in a train depot. Outreach included a survey which more than 1,100 people completed. The community was asked to review a slide deck featuring the design concepts, site plan, building floorplan layout and three roadway designs and then provide feedback on what they saw as well as important amenities they wanted to see in the building and roadway improvements.

The survey resulted in the following percentage of 1st choice votes for the building design themes: 53.75% for the “Traditional,” 27.68% for the “Sunrise”, and 21.48% for the “Schooner.” A community meeting via Zoom was also held as part of the community outreach.

“A critical part of the Goleta Train Depot project has been, and continues to be, community engagement. City staff continues to receive phone calls and emails from the public expressing their preferences and desires for the project. The public’s input on the project is vital to ensuring we deliver a train depot that is not only functional and aesthetically pleasing, but also results in an iconic gateway structure that will stand the test of time,” said Jaime Valdez, Principal Project Manager in the Neighborhood Services and Public Safety Department.

The Train Depot will return to City Council in October to discuss the South La Patera Lane roadway improvements. View the staff report from the August 5 Special City Council meeting here: https://tinyurl.com/y48a45rm.

Background

The City of Goleta was awarded a $13 million grant for the Goleta Train Depot in partnership with Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) in 2018. The City and SBCAG sought grant funds from the Transit & Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) to meaningfully improve passenger experience. The project centers around the City of Goleta’s purchase of the old Direct Relief International warehouse, which allows the City to redevelop the property to create a welcoming train station for travelers to the region as well as an enhanced experience for our community members as they travel to and from Goleta.

For further information regarding this project, please contact Jaime Valdez, Principal Project Manager, at 805-961-7568 or jvaldez@cityofgoleta.org.

Pictured: Rendering of Traditional Theme Goleta Train Depot design

Fairview Avenue / US 101 Intersection Sidewalk Infill Project Breaks Ground on September 8

Pedestrian and bicyclist safety along Fairview Avenue near the US Highway 101 Intersection will soon improve following the completion of a project set to break ground on September 8, 2020. 

The Fairview Avenue / US 101 Intersection Sidewalk Infill Project will construct new sidewalk to fill the sidewalk gap along the north side of S. Fairview Avenue leading to the signalized intersection at the northbound US 101 off-ramp. The project also includes reconstruction of existing sidewalk necessary to conform to the existing bicycle and pedestrian ramp connecting Fairview Avenue and Calle Real. The City secured Measure A grant funding for the project and is excited to start construction. The City awarded the project to Lash Construction, and MNS Engineers will be providing construction oversight for the City. The project is expected to take approximately one month to complete. A map showing the location of construction is provided.

City staff will be working with the contractor to minimize impacts to the public, however a lane closure for southbound traffic on S. Fairview Avenue and re-routing pedestrians will be needed in order to construct the project improvements. We appreciate your patience with the street and sidewalk disruption while we construct these improvements.

Goleta Public Works Director Charlie Ebeling said, “When the Sidewalk Infill Project is complete, the connectivity of sidewalk access will improve safety for the over 100 pedestrians and bicyclists per day traveling along Fairview Avenue. We are pleased the community will be able to enjoy the improvements for years to come.”

If you have any questions or would like additional information please contact City Construction Manager, Debbie Talarico at dtalarico@cityofgoleta.org.

 Pictured: Fairview Avenue/US 101 Intersection Sidewalk Infill Project Location Map (above) and Fairview Avenue/US 101 Location Photo (top right)

Old Town Sidewalk Project Final Paving Work

The City’s Old Town Sidewalk Improvement Project is nearing the finish line. The final asphalt grind and pavement overlay work was recently completed. Thank you to everyone impacted by this work for their cooperation and patience. The next step is to paint the striping on the streets which is scheduled for September 8. The striping work is expected to take one day to complete.

City of Goleta Senior Project Engineer James Winslow said, “The Public Works Department is very pleased with the success of the Old Town Sidewalk Project and excited to announce that the project will be completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Completing the work early is a huge benefit to the residents and community.”

Additional project information, including a map of the asphalt grind and overlay phasing, can be found on our City website at https://tinyurl.com/GoletaOTSW.

The utilities – Southern California Edison, Cox Communications, and Frontier Communications – still need to relocate their poles and equipment in some of the project areas. The contractor will return to finish pouring the sidewalks in these utility areas. For questions, please contact sidewalks@cityofgoleta.org or call the Construction Inspector, Daniel Anderson, at 805.869.3727.

Background

The 9031 Old Town Sidewalk Improvement project includes constructing sidewalk on at least one side of each street north of Hollister Avenue between South Fairview Avenue and Mallard Avenue as well as on Pine Avenue south of Hollister Avenue. The new sidewalks will connect to existing sidewalk providing a continuous path of travel. There will also be drainage improvements, tree replacements, repaving, and the construction of 39 back-in angled parking spots on Magnolia Avenue (for a net increase of approximately 17 new parking spots). Watch this video to learn more about the project.

When this project is done, the safety improvements, livability and ability to recreate in Old Town will change dramatically. We are pleased the community will be able to enjoy the improvements for years to come.

Pictured: New paving, and paving in progress, on Mandarin Avenue in Old Town

Less than Month Left to Make Goleta Count in the 2020 Census!

Come visit us at the Farmers Market on Sunday, September 13

We have less than one month left to make sure all of Goleta is counted in the 2020 Census. The closing date has been moved up to September 30, and we still have approximately 25% of households that need to respond. We need your help to get as close as we can to 100% participation. You can complete the census online at My2020Cenus.gov or over the phone or by calling 844-330-2020.

Mayor of Goleta Paula Perotte said, “We need to do everything possible to obtain Goleta’s fair share of vital health and safety services funding from Federal, State and County governments. For the next 10 years such funding will be based on the total number of Goletans counted by the September 30, 2020 deadline!”  She continued, “Census information is not shared with any other agency and completing the form for everyone in a household takes less than 10 minutes. Please be counted.”

We are also pleased to share that every Wednesday in September from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Equalitech is providing computer stations for community members to complete their census online. This will be a great asset for those that do not have access to a computer or internet. Equalitech staff are Bilingual and will be available to answer questions about the census. Equalitech is located in Room 13B in the back of the Goleta Valley Community Center (5679 Hollister Avenue). If you go, please follow COVID-19 health guidelines – wear a face covering and stay six feet apart from others.

Also, come visit us at the Camino Real Farmers Market on Sunday, September 13, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. We will be there to answer questions about the census and pass out Make Goleta Count swag. Look for the large California Census digital truck parked at the Camino Real Marketplace.  Again, COVID-19 guidelines will be followed.

As a reminder, now that Census workers are going door to door to contact households who have not responded, the City wants to remind the community to be aware of potential scams.  Census workers, who are hired locally, all have a census ID and briefcase with the census logo, and wear a protective mask and gloves. Their ID can be verified online at www.census.gov/cgi-bin/main/email.cgi.

Learn more about the 2020 Census at www.CityofGoleta.org/Census2020. The City of Goleta is proud to be a part of the Complete Count Committee which is working together to make sure EVERYONE counts in Santa Barbara County.